Mikael Lustig

Love the guy but he is done.

 

Against Dundee aye. Leipzig naw.

 

Credit where it's due, he's been good recently. He still needs replaced but there's no reason why he can't stay as backup past January.

 

He’s been playing as a full back and not as a sorta RB, RM, CB

Tonight he just didn’t need to worry about defending at all.

 

While covering Boyata**

 

He could put in MOTM performances until January, but we still need to find a long term replacement...

 

So 2 7/10 performances against Hearts (without a winger) and Dundee is somehow meant to hide how bad he is? Bet some on here don't realise that he didn't pass the ball forward once successfully until the 36 minute mark against Hearts as well. I'm sure we will see how good he is against Leipzig next week, it is good to see that he has found some form that we have very rarely seen and would be fine with him being a 2nd choice RB but against any half quick player he is stuffed- Jones, Mackay-Stevens, Boyle, Burke, and that's just in our league. Lustigs 3 mistakes against AEK is one of the reasons we aren't in the champions league this year, we have to spend big on a right back because our scouts can't identify good players on a low budget and Gamboa and Ralston just aren't going to cut it at a European level unfortunately. Is Duffy playing well enough to jump ahead of Ralston in the queue to being our future right back?

 

If you thought last night was a 7/10 performance you’re just plain wrong, he was * immense.

 

My view also, a 31 y/o Swedish international should still be walking the SPL, which Lustig does and will most weeks.

The fact that you see folk appearing in here like some false dawn says it all, we shouldn't have to be having this debate with our defender who should be in the prime of his career.

My stance has always been he's the best RB in the league, but he needs to be improved on (not just him tbh) if we want to progress.

 

I get what you’re saying but after a game a players played well there thread gets a lot of talk in it, Ryan Christie on the weekend and last night, Tam Rogic, James Forrest...

When players recieve praise when they deserve it it shouldn’t be criticised.

I said it earlier on in the thread, he’s being allowed to play as a pure RB for the last few games and in those games he’s played well, with the same role he plays well in Sweden. Might be more miles in him than people think.

Doesn’t mean we don’t need a replacement though.

 

I think it helps that the general tempo of our play has improved the last few (domestic) games, we've seen less of the side to side passing that all the defendeds are guilty of, but it's most noticeable with Mika cause he's incredibly one-footed.

I'd love for us to get a young, dynamic RB to match what KT offers on the left and use Lustig like Izzy as back up.

 

The difference is these guys haven't been a weakness for the best part of, in my opinion at least, two or more years.

It's not the compliments, he deserves the plaudits when he plays well - Just as someone like Jack Hendry or Gordon does, for example. It's the making people look daft chat (like Paul above) that comes about every time our prime aged, international full back has a good game.. which then dissipates.. then reappears, rinse and repeats.

For me the upturn in form is the natural effect of the team itself starting to fire on all cylinders, everyone has improved except for Ntcham really. As I said, he will walk games, he will look good going forward, but the cracks have been showing for awhile now and we really should invest.

 

31 isn’t prime for me, that’s when you’re coming out of it for me but it varies from player to player. Lustigs prime was about 25 till 29.

I agree. I just don’t think he’s as useless as some people make out, so Paul’s right in that sense, he is making some people look stupid. Some of the abuse he has taken has been horrendous, * were ok here saying he should be put down like an old dog.

I think they look stupid.

Doesn’t mean he doesn’t need replaced though

 

I'm sure he's heard worse coming from the stands ffs

 

29-32 is when a defender should be at the peak of his powers for me, but regardless, at 31 the discussion probably shouldn't have even started yet for a man just out of a World Cup quarter final... but it's been going on for years now!

He's not useless, if folk have implied that, I'd say most would probably still say he's better than John Flanagan, Tavernier, Whittaker, Gray etc etc. I think most would agree that he's good in SPL terms, can mostly handle SPL quality, but that we 100% need better.

The dog comment was from Valhalla, if I remember rightly, who is/was as big a Lustig fan as anyone on here. Thought the reactions to that were OTT to be honest.

 

That’s my point mate, I didn’t specify on here. Sitting at Parkhead is * poison sometimes when we turn on a player. Boils ma blood.

Nobody is disagreeing that we need players. It’s the complete knobs who go totally over the top that look daft because as you’ve said, it’s somewhere inbetween. He needs replaced but he’s not what some people are making out.

The major difference to his wee upturn in form for me just now is the way he’s being used though. He’s playing just as an actual RB. He hasn’t had that role since Brendan’s early days as a manager here.

 

This kind of comment I've seen a few times from people in this thread and it strikes me as really quite unfair. Of course we'd all love that and in the KT thread it would be a spot on comment; but here in the Lustig thread it just feels a little like using KT's phenomenal talent as a way to downplay Lustig.

We have no right to expect a KT clone on the right. We're incredibly lucky to have even one KT. Of course we definitely should be looking to replace Lustig as he is getting older; but I'd be more than satisfied with a young Mikel Lustig TBH. A second KT just seems a bit unrealistic (though no one would be happier than me if we got one).

Meanwhile Lustig continues to do a job and I don't think RB is the most urgent position to sort out TBH.

 

Aye, I said I’d take an Izzy on the right.

A KT is too much to hope for.